Is Gary, Indiana Really That Bad (Hammond, Portage: rent, hotel, bankrupt)

[domergurl]

I'm sorry to say, but I was duped. Captain Dan is not dead. I was thinking about exiting the "office", but decided not to. Just needed to decompress and maybe not be so gullible ... I'll try my best and I'm very sorry for not having a better BS meter in my heart.

[kobraf150]

I'm from a pretty rough part of Detroit and I got lost in Gary once while taking a shortcut w/ some friends while going to visit another friend. It was a very hostile environment. I'm black and was traveling with 3 friends (2 white and 1 black). While at a gas station the clerk told my friend Mike who was white to "buy somethin' or get out 'cake eater'" when he asked for directions. When I asked, he rudely responded "man, brother whatchu doin wit them 2 white fools huh?!" Plus a homeless guy wouldn't go away and kept grabin' at us until he found someone else to ask for money from. In Detroit it may be rough but at least the bums are afraid of being shot and usually don't dare touch you. No thanks to anyone there, we found our way out. Sorry if I offend anyone here, but I'm not a fan of Gary at all and being from Detroit that's bad!

[domergurl]

Cake eater???

[sburton]

Very puzzling indeed. As a lifelong fan of cakes in a wide range of types, styles and shapes, I confess to having read the earlier quote with very mixed emotions. Perhaps it was meant by the speaker as a compliment. In any case, if I get to Gary in the near future I will report back my findings.

[prairiestate]

You didn't know? Only white people eat cake. Just go into the Jewel at 95th & Stony Island, not a single cake on the shelf!

[sburton]

I beg your pardon. On what basis do you make any assumption with respect to my racial identity? Sheesh. For your information, the reason Jewel has no cakes is...they're sold out! That's was my point.

[skyeINIL]

I've heard that term before, but never as a racial slur. It's usually used to describe a rich person, no matter their race.

[domergurl]

Oh, is it like a Marie Antoinette "let them eat cake" thing?? Ohhhhhh!!!! I get it now .. duh. Stupid white girl here.

[sburton]

Apparently most of us are not in the spirit of true 'cake eaters' (affluent, highly educated, etc) so we probably shouldn't fret too much over it. Whew - that was close. Now if the alleged name-calling incident had involved expressions like 'donut chuzzler' or 'cupcake crumbler' the situation might have quickly taken on a much more menacing aspect.

[bwissinger]

I grew up in Aetna (Idaho Street) in the 1970s, and at the time it was a nice area. Most of our neighbors were white, and the black families nearby tended to be professional. The houses were also relatively well-built, with large yards. My aunt lived about 2 miles away, and I remember that we could safely walk to her house, and my mom used to send me and my sister to the supermarket on Saturday mornings. We had the Dunes nearby, and the little league baseball field was at the end of the street. We spent a lot of time playing there.

We went to St. Mary's for grade school, and that area of Miller was also OK. After school we used to go to the library on Miller Avenue, where the librarians would keep an eye on us until we were picked up.

My mom now lives in Lake Station, and I've been out of the area for almost 20 years. I went back with my kids over Christmas, and stayed at the Country Inn in Portage. We did take a drive by the Lake, and once we caught the South Shore from Metrocenter. I was sadden by how run-down my old stomping ground had become, but I have to say that I never felt unsafe driving through Gary (even travelling alone with two children), and everyone I spoke to was friendly.

Although Gary receives alot of attention for its crime problem, I think that many parts of Lake County suffer more from poverty. Lake Station is just outside Gary and is full of people my grandmother would have called "white trash" (Her words not mine, please). Drugs are also rampant, and when my brother was at Edison, the school was under suspension by the State education board, and he was worried about making it into college.

Anyone with means (no matter what color) moving to NW Indiana would have to look south of Merrillville or east of Portage to find decent quality of life.


Barbara Wissinger